Anxiety and Self-Confidence How do they affect sport performance?

Anxiety and Self-Confidence
How do they affect sport performance?

The performance in the competition depends to a large extent on the preparation of the athletes, their training, their daily life and the general “protection” of themselves. The factors affecting performance are analyzed in many categories, whether they are physical, technical, tactical or even emotional-psychological.
The most ‘over-reported’ emotional factors for competitive sport are stress and lack of confidence.
Anxiety, as a negative emotion, comes from the word “angho” which means “to press tightly in the throat”. What everyone feels when experiencing the feeling of stress. Based on the word itself there is no such thing as “positive” stress, instead we seek alertness and psychological preparedness.
Anxiety is the feeling that “heavy body” causes in athletes. Their legs feel heavy, in sports such as taekwondo and karate it will often be reported that “the legs don’t go”, in sports that require movement such as football or tennis, athletes feel that they “can’t move”, in some situations creates hypervigilance to the point where athletes “don’t have control of their movements”. In swimming and in sports with a specific technique, due to stress, the athletes will feel the body tight, to the point that it spoils their technique, while at the same time there is the feeling that “I can’t catch water!”.
Mentally, anxiety is related to “confusion and fatigue” to the point that the athletes cannot “listen” to the coach’s instructions, think about their plan, look for solutions in the match, make quick and correct decisions.
Lack of confidence has a different effect on the match and sometimes acts as a counterweight to one side’s anxiety. “The more confidence, the less stress!”
The athlete without self-confidence shows no dynamism, lacks physical and mental energy and clearly lacks “momentum”, a concept very important for competitive performance. In taekwondo, karate, judo, athletes will not show aggression, their movements will look procedural, “done to be done”, they will not chase the opponent, they will play rather passively. In basketball or football they will not claim the ball, they will not take initiatives, as there is a feeling that “I can’t”. In tennis the strokes of the ball will be without power, in ping-pong the initiative will be lacking, in swimming the movements of the hands will appear without tension. Athletes with a lack of confidence look “like they’re not trying.” But it is not their choice! When you don’t believe you can achieve a goal, what you will lack is the effort. How much will the athlete try for something he doesn’t believe he can achieve?
The two concepts, anxiety and self-confidence, have a central role in the competitive performance of athletes. Athletes are asked to manage them long before the race, so that they are also psychologically ready, without simply waiting for “it’s my day!”. In sports “the day” is determined by the athletes themselves….

Yannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist